CSBG Archive

Snark Free Corner for 5/20

Sorry, this should have been up yesterday, but the server went down for a bit!

Welcome to the latest installment of your breath of snark free air!

Enjoy!

SNARK FREE DEBATE

Which Legion was cooler – Abnett and Lanning’s or McGraw/Peyer/Stern’s?

The McGraw/Peyer/Stern Legion was notable in the way that, along with artists Jeffrey Moy and Lee Moder, it portrayed the Legion as heroes in the mold of the old Binder, Siegel, Hamilton and Shooter days.

The Abnett and Lanning stories were noted by their artist, as well, as Olivier Coipel had a darker feel to his work than Moy and Moder, and the D’n’A stories were a good deal darker.

Both runs spotlighted characterizations as a key part of their writing.

Which one do you Legion fans like better?

Let me know – and remember, in the debate, no snarkiness allowed!!

COVER THEME GAME

As always, here is the game. I show three covers. They all have something in common, whether it be a character, a trait all three characters share, locale, creator, SOMEthing. And it isn’t something obvious like “They all have prices!” “They all have logos!” “They all feature a man!” etc.

In addition, please note that you must have some familiarity with comic book history to correctly guess these comics. You cannot guess the connective theme just by looking at the covers solely, you must have some knowledge beyond just the covers.

29 Comments

Graham Vingoe

Of the 2 Legion runs you mention I’d plump for the Abnett/Lanning run well over the McGraw/Peyer/Stern run Abnett and Lanning turned Legion into a series with much greater science fictional feel and Ra’s Al Ghul appearing was simply a genius move. Mcgraw/Peyer/Stern as a team produced some great stuff but they produced it after what I felt was an unnecessary reboot after Zero Hour.

wwk5d

Definitely the McGraw/Peyer/Stern. After the 5YL run, it was a nice change and breath of fresh hair. It wasn’t perfect (I never got into their pet character, Kinetix), but overall, a great run. It did, however, IMO, lose steam during the Dark Circle and never got got it’s groove back. The Abnett/Lanning run was good too, just not as good.

Both Legion runs definitely had a lot going on to shake up the characters’ lives. The notable moment of the tongue-sticking-out era was the trials they put Vi through, but that era had too many low points for me to give it the nod. The DnA era consistently shook things up which I really enjoyed.

My question is, “Who’s the ref?” Because Guy, he’d play dirty. He’d throw elbows, he’d flop, he would violently and egregiously foul until Hawkeye decided to use some of those skills Captain America taught him and it would turn from a basketball game into a brawl.

But if the ref is keeping them from fighting, Hawkeye in a walkover. He’d be an absolute killer shot from anywhere on the court, knocking down three after three after three until Guy begged for mercy.

McGraw/Peyer/Stern had their moments, but the Abnett and Lanning run was much better. The art was better, for one thing, thanks to Coipel and Batista, and the stories were darker without compromising the Legion’s essential innocence. I think that Abnett and Lanning’s Legion was about as good as Legion storytelling ever got. Maybe best ever.

Wasn’t Guy a phys ed teacher at one point? Even still, I have to go with Hawkeye. Guy would be fouling up a storm (and probably have a better grasp of the fundamentals) but he just couldn’t compete with all the shots Hawkeye would make.

Greg Geren

I would probably choose the Waid / Peyer McCraw Legion over DnA, but it would be pretty close.

This version of the Legion was a true Reboot, and even though it did not follow the established Pre-Zero-Hour chronology exactly, it was definitely parallel, including bits for the long-term fan (me!) as well as throwing in unexpected curves at times. I also may be the only person that admits to liking Jeff Moy’s artwork, but he had a very solid performance across the entire series.

DnA / Coipel told some very interesting stories, and picked up the interest and excitement after the previous run had lost it’s steam. I really liked Chris Batista’s run towards the end.

M Bloom

I have to go with the McGraw/Peyer/Stern Legion. That was the first version of the Legion I ever read, sifting through about the first year and a half’s worth of issues that my uncle had in his comic collection one summer. I absolutely fell in love with the book’s writing and art (you’re not the only Moy fan, Greg Geren). I haven’t really read much of the DnA Legion yet, but I doubt it will overtake the initial reboot run in my heart.

C. Adams

The knock against the McGraw/Peyer/Stern (not to mention the Biernbaums) run on Legion/Legionnaires was that it was too fun. TOO FUN!!! Let that sink in. People didn’t want fun stories, they wanted dark sci-fi. I cant believe I used to hear that about this title. I enjoyed reading comics especially when Moy was on the art. It was a breath of fresh air in the age of darker comic books. Go back and read it and see if you don’t have a good time reading the series.

It wouldn’t work in today’s DC where it seems like killing off characters is the way that attention is received.

Craig B.

For the cover theme game, I was going to say “cats and dogs,” since you’ve got Catwoman, Shadowcat (at the top left of the second cover) and Ace, the Bat-hound in the third, but I think DanLarkin’s got it with “hounds.” Wasn’t Rachel Summers called a “hellhound” or something like that in the future where she came from? I didn’t know the character attacking Catwoman in the first cover was also called Hellhound, so that clinches it for me.

And Guy Gardner – he’s a gym teacher, for heaven’s sake! Just because you can fight with a sword and shoot arrows doesn’t mean you’re good at every athletic pursuit! Then again, if Hawkeye’s a Skrull, he could make himself taller and have a real advantage!

Brian Cronin

Remember, Guy is not just a gym coach – he almost made it to the pros playing football, so that’s why I hoped it’d be a fair fight – Guy’s overall sports skills (and yes, trash talking) versus Clint’s shooting ability (plus the fact that both of them would likely cheat ).

Greg Geren

FunkyGreenJerusalem

I like the Waid and Kitson run the best!
Admittedly, it’s the only Legion I’ve read, but it’s probably the only legion I will read – if this Johns series takes it’s place, I’m out… which would be a shame, as I think the Waid and Kitson brand of Legion is excellent, and can’t figure out why everybody doesn’t read it.